Withered old and terrible gaunt" describes me well , at the moment.Not because of the move , though it wasn't something I'd ever want to repeat , but the building of an Ikea chest of drawers .
The lovesome , huge and capacious Malm , to be precise . Arriving in two hefty flatpacks , which turned out to contain lots of heavy , precision cut slabs of veneered chipboard , it seemed simple enough to construct . And then I unearthed the bag of fixings .... 267 screws , nails , wooden plugs , plastic locking affairs , runners , minute plastic whatsits to stop the drawers making a noise as they shut .... it was endless . As was the construction itself . Like everyone else , I've put together a Billy bookcase and a table and was game to expand my repertoire .
Well , we survived . A Malm chest of drawers is ours and I'm sure , with a bit of a rest and some feeding up , I'll look my old self in no time .
The quote ? W.B. Yeats , of course .

All change, please....

Smitonius:

Sonata has moved, and though she remains unconnected to the internet or the phone my little sister texted updates on the move day. I am sure Sonata will let us now what it was like for her, but what concerned her three daughters was the potential loss or damage to the crocodile skull in transit. Yes, you read correctly, we grew up with skeletons ON the cupboards (no doubt there are some rattling in them too). It only seems odd in retrospect, but at the time a crocodile skull on top of the furniture, the elephant's molar propping up the books, the bows and arrows in the corner, the red and black beads in a woven box, the Zebra skin on the shop's wall, and African carvings meant we were home. Sonata's other half spent time in what is now known as Zaire and these have travelled to wherever home might happen to be....

Ages and ages ago I seem to remember telling you all about our adopted cat Toots, brought home from Battersea Cats and Dogs home. We knew we were taking a risk to feel more heartache as she had a heart condition but - hey - none of us come with a guarantee.

Unfortunately Toots passed away in October suddenly. She had been a very loving companion who loved being with us in the kitchen in the evenings (we all played musical chairs), had a penchant for shortbread biscuits, and adored playing with silver chains. For a few months we thought we would not get another cat for a while. But, cat lovers know how it is.... driving past Battersea on the 5th of January we stopped off to re-register. One thing led to another and we walked out with not one cat but two:

Reputedly father and daughter combination (though the vet is very skeptical indeed), Mr Bo(jangles) is about 6 years old and his 'daughter' Suki is about one year old. He is an adorable nutcase who likes to wake us up at 7.30 am precisely by jumping onto the bed from the top of the cupboard. She is a little princess of a kitten and by far the bravest of them both. They get on well, and he encourages her to wash herself as it does not appear she lives up to his standards of grooming. They have just been introduced to the garden, though Mr Bo spent two days watching her explore through the window before venturing out. Suki has taken her first (unintentional) swim in the pond. Toots is sorely missed, but it is wonderful to have feline companions again (though given how much they eat, they could well be miniature horses).